


A Wonderful Mistake

by EllieMarchetti



Series: Red Queen AUs [2]
Category: Red Queen Series - Victoria Aveyard
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mentions of Cancer, References to Depression, References to Illness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2020-12-28 08:02:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21133379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieMarchetti/pseuds/EllieMarchetti
Summary: Red Queen modern AU





	1. A Night at the Hall of Sun

His words remained suspended in the darkness that separated them. Ann, her roommate, was sitting cross-legged next to the suitcase open on the bed and seemed to understand that something hadn’t really gone according to the plan.

“Do you want to tell me something?” Maven asked in a tone that didn’t please her at all. She didn’t want to fight, she didn’t really have the strength, so she hung up without even saying goodbye. He would have been angry for a few days but he would have forgiven her quickly, as every time she forgave him and his sudden, compelling commitments.

“Did they call him for work?” Ann asked, trying to calculate how big the damage was.

Mare only nodded. Unlike usual, she didn’t even want to complain. Hardly, to be honest, she felt like talking at all.

“Maybe you should just be more spontaneous, see him anyway, and if they call him while you’re with him, wait for him to come back and get back exactly from where you were interrupted.” she suggested.

_Perhaps_, Mare thought, _or maybe he should stop putting the work first_.

What then, in all honesty, it wasn’t a matter of work but of his mother, who couldn’t bear her and as his boss devised every possible way to prevent them from seeing each other. In the beginning, Mare had decided to fight, but now she was aware that the woman was succeeding in her intent to take her out of exhaustion.

In a fit of rage, she stood up and emptied her suitcase on the quilt. Ann rummaged in the pile of clothes and pulled out a black dress. It was a gift from Gisa, her younger sister, who once thought it wouldn’t hurt her to dress like a girl. She always carried it with her, although since she had found it packed under the Christmas tree of the Barrow house, the year before, she hadn’t yet used it. Maybe it was time. Perhaps, for once, she and Ann would be the ones who would be served drinks.

Twenty minutes later they were on the other side of the city, in the parking lot of the Hall of the Sun, more simply called Hall, the most famous local in the city, as well as the place where they worked for six nights a week. The closer they got to the entrance, the more Mare could hear the music roaring in her chest, until, once they crossed the threshold, she felt her bones vibrate at every beat of the bass. She was used to it, even though behind the counter, much farther away from the speakers, it wasn’t that annoying and intense.

They made their way through the already crowded dance floor, where the smells of alcohol and sweat mixed nauseously. When they finally reached the desk, Ann took a seat towards the back, partly to stay away from the other patrons, partly because it was what they called a preferred lane for desperate women.

When she saw them, Rasha winked at Ann.

“Should I find you a table?” she asked, but Ann shook her head. She probably thought that the colleague wanted to be kind only to ask for a part of her tips of the previous night, but Mare knew that this was none other than one of her countless attempts to approach, which, as always, was innocently ignored by her friend.

A bitter smile was painted on Rasha’s lips but she was quick to hide it, while she was beating a receipt at the cash register.

“So what are you drinking?” she asked, when she had also finished with the next client who was too noisy.

Ann ordered a sour whiskey, while Mare opted for a smooth one. Her brothers would never leave her peace, if they had known she was trying to alter the taste of whiskey in any way.

They sat down in the only free table, a little too close to the dance floor, for Mare’s taste, but she would’ve been satisfied anyway; on weekends the place was always packed and they had been lucky to find a place at half past ten.

She stared at her friend, her eyes narrowed, made bloodshot by the smoke that saturated the air, until she deigned to follow her gaze, which was planted on two girls, ONE taller and slender, with long platinum blonde hair, and the other more curvy, with milk-white skin and long, fiery red hair that danced in an extremely sensual way. In some strange way, the younger one reminded her of Gisa and it made her so uncomfortable that she felt the need to drink her drink in one go.

“I want you like that!” exclaimed Ann, following her example, before leaving her alone to go and order another round. Mare didn’t even have time to protest, but she knew that Ann was like that, so she remained to observe her until she disappeared into the crowd, then turned back to the chair that she expected to find empty, which didn’t happen, since she crossed a pair of bronze-colored eyes, which watched her amused.

“It seems like I know you,” said the boy, reaching out to her, arms folded and elbows resting on the table.

Mare certainly knew him: he was the owner’ son, the one who instead of throwing her out when he caught her trying to steal his wallet, offered her a job.

“I’m your employee.” she replied, trying to keep a detached tone.

“My father’s.” he corrected her, rubbing his square jaw, as if he were uncomfortable to say it.

Before she could add anything, Ann came back, with five little glasses in her hands, and three guys Mare knew too well and only brought trouble.

Tristan, Shade and Kilorn knew how to be the best friends a girl could ask for and a group of dangerous killjoys, and by the expression on her brother’s face, that evening they had opted for the second option.

“It’s him?” asked Kilorn, already ready to ignite. Ann must have already alerted Tristan of her skipped trip. After all, it was their week end too.

“No.” Mare answered.

“Is there any problem?” Tiberias asked, looking at Kilorn. Mare knew well that tone and attitude, she had seen it hundreds of times, used by too drunk customers, by girls who wanted to fight, by her brothers and by Tiberias himself, and knew that if she hadn’t intervened, the situation would quickly degenerate into a brawl without precedents.

“It’s a long story, you don’t want to hear it and I don’t want to tell you. Therefore, everyone,” she said, also looking at her friends and brother’s faces “if you’re going to let me have a good night, you’re welcome, otherwise go away from my table!”

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She had shouted the last part of the sentence, attracting the attention of some of the dancers, who had stopped, intrigued, to look.

Ann handed her a shot, taking a seat on one of the two chairs left free.

"I think I’ll stay.” said Tiberias, bending a corner of his mouth in a smile.


	2. Rotisserie Takeaway and Cherry Coke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takeaway from your favorite place for lunch and a can of Cherry Coke still fresh is every girlfriend's dream. But is it still a dream if your boyfriend is in California and is his half brother the one who brings them to your house?

When the phone rang, waking up Mare, she reached out to get it and check who thought was a good idea to write to a hangover girl at half past ten. To her extreme surprise, she discovered it was Tiberias. They had exchanged numbers the night before, but Mare didn’t think he would actually write something in the morning; she believed he had seen her as a girl who was hard to get but who sooner or later would have surrendered to his charm and would’ve fallen in temptation, seeing his aspired number on her phone. However, she didn’t have time to read the text as a small, icy hand slipped the device away from her grasp. She didn’t heard Ann coming, but when she wanted, that girl could be silent like a cat.

“Cal?!” she exclaimed, faking shock. “Have you already started using nicknames?”

Mare rolled her eyes but didn’t reply.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me! I noticed your look when he offered you that drink?”

“Which one?” asked Mare, with a smug grin. She had managed to get four, before the closing time.

“You greedy profiteer!” she exclaimed, before jumping on her. Cal had also been generous with Ann and Tristan but when they had gone on the dance floor, Cal had continued to offer. Not that he paid for anything he ordered: everyone knew he was the owner’s son and they were willing to turn a blind eye on many things, including the bill.

“Breakfast’s ready!” exclaimed Tristan from the kitchen, stopping his girlfriend’s attack. Though they were both lean as rushes, they ate like fattened pigs. Mare had a vague idea of how they burned all those calories, but preferred not to think about it too much; even if she liked Tristan, she liked Rasha more.

She had barely set foot in the kitchen, that Tristan was already looking at her with the look of who knew too much, chewing with deliberate slowness, waiting for her to give up the information of her own free will.

“I don’t have anything to say.” gave up Mare, after a few minutes of total silence, in which she felt observed not only by one but by two pairs of eyes still kneaded by sleep but curious.

“Maybe not to us, but surely you talked to him a lot.” observed Tristan, with a mocking smile, one of the things that most sent her mad of that damn redhead. That the boy was intelligent was undeniable, but his attitude was… she just didn’t knew what Shade, Kilorn and Ann found so interesting in him.

“You act as if I had hit on him.”

“You let him take you to the car.” Tristan pointed out, as if it were the craziest thing in the world. It had been a nice evening, they had all drank and she was a beautiful tipsy girl whose boyfriend had just cancelled their romantic weekend making her end up in the bar where she worked with her roommate and her boyfriend, what should she do? Send him away and spend the night with her brother and best friend to which she had screamed at the start of the night? Cal had been useful, but it would’ve ended there, which she intended to tell him. She turned to Ann, who had been strangely silent, to ask where she had left her cell phone, when she recognized her cover in her hands.

“Ann Walsh, what are you doing with my phone?” she asked, ready to run to get it back before she would do irreparable damage. When she met her guilty gaze she didn’t need more explanations.

When she wanted, Ann knew how to amaze with unthinkable athletic skills, but Mare had grown up with three older brothers, so it didn’t take long to plate her friend on the couch of the small open space that sometimes they called living room, sometimes kitchen.

Before she could snatch the phone from her hand, the trill of a message notification saturated the air, freezing Mare on the spot.

“It’s Cal!” exclaimed Ann, trying to read before Mare took possession of her belonging again.

The message said _Touché. What are you doing?_ so it was obvious that Ann had the time to reply at the first one, whatever it said.

Mare turned to her friend, her eyes narrowed to two slits. Ann had hid behind Tristan, as if that pile of bones could defend her if Mare really wanted to beat her, and she giggled like a little girl.

“The next time your father invites me for lunch, I’ll drop some spicy details about your relationship.”

If possible, Tristan paled more than usual, while Ann yelled at her not to dare. Mare replied with an example of what she could say, interrupted by uncontrollable laughter, and in spite of everything, she was truly happy.

It was about lunchtime when someone knocked on the door. Ann and Tristan had been out for nearly half an hour for their usual Saturday lunch at her parents’ house, while Mare was still in her pajamas, her hair gathered in a messed up tail. Although this was a fairly poor neighborhood, the crime rate, excluding the small thefts, wasn’t very high, so Mare opened the door without even looking at who it was: probably it was Gisa who, once she became aware of her failed departure, had decided to visit her to raise her morale a little.

“The lunch!” exclaimed a male voice instead, cheerfully.

Mare couldn’t believe her eyes: Tiberias Calore was on the doorstep of her house, holding a bag of her favorite rotisserie, which was on the other side of the city, and two huge Cherry Coke. It was an unprecedented thing, no girl would have ever received such treatment from the most coveted young bachelor of the city without boasting around, apart, perhaps, those already engaged. Like her.

Despite being flattered, she tried to maintain a certain behavior and asked him how he had come to know her address, without taking off the door.

“It’s not difficult to access employee data if your father is the owner of the venue.” he replied naturally.

What he had done wasn’t quite right, just like what was just happening, but the smell of roast chicken made her stomach roar with such force that she let him in. After all, she had nothing in the fridge. Less than five minutes later they were sitting facing each other, eating in silence. Mare couldn’t have asked for anything better and was enjoying every spoon of mashed potatoes almost like every bite of meat trying to suppress the burning sense of guilt at the thought of Maven, who was in California, forced to work just because his mother had to have sensed something about their plans.

“Do you work tonight?” Tiberias asked suddenly, interrupting the flow of her thoughts, which had roughly taken the shape of a whirlpool of water in a flooded river.

“I have a free weekend.”

“Beautiful, me too.” he replied, tearing a perplexed expression from Mare. He was the son of the man who owned half of the city, he wouldn’t need to work for the rest of his life, let alone at twenty-three, but Mare tried to hide the vague disgust she felt at the idea.

“You could be amazed, you know?” he said. He must have grasped every nuance of her thoughts reflected in her gestures and Mare wondered why he hadn’t yet got up to leave, closing that farce there. Did he see in what hole she lived? Did he realize that probably the car by which he arrived would have been scratched by the kids simply because it was too beautiful, shiny and new?

“I’m not the rich and spoiled boy you think I am.”

“Then prove it.” she replied, without thinking.

“Tonight, at seven.”

Mare cursed in a thousand different ways; she cursed her curiosity and her stubbornness, and cursed herself for letting him offer her four drinks and cheer her up and for being flattered by the fact that he had brought her lunch, remembering exactly what she liked when she had told him in a crowded place with deafening music. She cursed Ann for answering him and Maven for telling her not to go, for not having called and for making her feel guilty whether he said something or not. But most of all, she cursed that almost golden light in Tiberias’ bronze eyes that attracted her like a moth is attracted by the fire.

“I’ll be there. Are you going to pick me up?”


	3. The Jacos Foundation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marecal first not date

She had been so indecisive about what to do for the whole afternoon that Mare was still drying her hair at seven. She urgently needed a session at the hairdresser but she barely managed to cover the cost of living alone, let alone a luxury of that kind. Also, there was Ann who could cut her split ends, but that wouldn’t be the day. In fact, the one with Tiberias was absolutely not an appointment and there was no reason to be beautiful: demonstrating this, she decided to wear her favorite sweatshirt and a pair of old and crumpled jeans. If he really had to prove that he was not a spoiled rich man he would have to take her to a place where that was the right clothes choice.

When she was ready, she stepped out of the bathroom and glanced sideways at the clock. He was late.

“He’ll arrive.” said simply Ann, who was already wearing her pajamas watching the Griffins perched on their uncomfortable couch.

“It would be better if he didn’t.” Mare replied, throwing herself next to her.

“Don’t lie to me, you already look disappointed.” the other answered, before dropping a handful of popcorn into her mouth without taking her eyes off the screen.

Five minutes later, when she had already surrendered to the evidence and began to relax, someone rang at the door. Mare jumped up like a spring, disappointing herself and snatching a cunning smile from Ann; she would’ve never admitted that her friend was right, but that was it. She didn’t know why, but she desperately wanted to believe that Cal was a good person, that he was different from the boy they all thought he was, that there was something else behind the façade, and at the same time a tiny part of her, the one who thought of Maven, the one who was supposed to visit him, wanted him to disappoint her, to remind her why she had chosen his half-brother and all the problems that it involved instead of simply falling into his arms. Not that he had ever tried to hook up with her before, but she doubted that if she went looking for him he would refuse her.

When she opened the door, however, there was no Cal to wait for her but a child of about eight years, not so tall, with white skin accentuated by long black hair.

“Are you Miss Barrow?” he asked, in a serious voice that didn’t seem to belong to a child. Mare nodded, perplexed, until she realized that a white van awaited them on the road. She immediately recognized the writing on its side, because she had seen it countless times since the accident that had taken away the use of her father’s legs: Jacos Foundation. The founder, Coriane Jacos, was Cal’s mother, a woman, according to her parents, born in the wrong family; unlike her brother, in fact, she didn’t like the academic life but preferred manual work, as she had amply demonstrated when she started working for a misery in the Cole’s workshop against her father’s will, and wasn’t even vain as her great-aunt, or attached to material goods like her uncle. She had drawn young Mr. Calore’s attention to the graduation of her friend, the current heart surgeon who supported the Foundation and had also operated Mare’s father, Sara Skonos, and from that moment they had become inseparable. Together, they had faced everything: the divorce of his parents, the death of her father, the coming out of his father, her first abortion and finally the fulminating end that Tiberias Senior met because of AIDS. Every scandal and sorrow was faced with strength and integrity by what was defined as the most beautiful couple in the city, until Coriane became ill. At the death of her father-in-law’s partner, whom she was very attached to, she found herself alone, with her brother busy with his studies in another city, her dearest friend distant because of her exhausting work, her aunt on her deathbed and her husband too busy with family affairs to pay attention to her. Perhaps it was depression that caused her two successive abortions, perhaps, as some liked to whisper, her husband’s lover who was trying to poison her, however, when Cal was finally born, for a short time, she seemed to have come back to herself . In order to keep herself busy, as she left work in the workshop on the second abortion, she had created a foundation in her name, using all the money received by her family, which used as a base the old estate she grew up in just outside town. It didn’t have a specific purpose, other than to help those who needed it most: the loner, the marginalized, those who were in non-positive economic conditions, the mentally ill and those who had lost their will to live. For two years Coriane Jacos had been the perfect woman for public opinion, the apotheosis of the American dream. Still, something in her mind didn’t work as it should, for one day they found her lifeless body in the bathtub. Mare’s mother had told her that the newspapers had talked about it for weeks, until the news was slowly forgotten, replaced by the imminent marriage of the new widower with what had long been his perfidious lover. For the poor, however, Coriane’ story had remained important even years after her death, as was her family’s name, since it was her brother who took the reins, while still continuing his work as a teacher at the university, helped by his wife and her innumerable acquaintance in the medical field of her foundation. And now Cal was leaning out of that damn bus to greet her with his hand, as if the thing didn’t touched her at all, as if a day of volunteering were enough to make him good as his mother. Undecided about what to do, she replied to the greeting without too much enthusiasm, and went back into the house, telling the child to get back on the bus, where she would reach him once she got her jacket and bag.

“Don’t you think I would’ve known if Tiberias Calore had volunteered?” Mare asked to Ann, a bit of annoyance peeping in her tone.

“I think if you were interested in the city’s gossip a little more, you would’ve known it.” Ann replied, throwing her a sideways glance.

“You knew it?!” Mare asked, amazed. Did she really lived so detached from the rest of the world?

“Even Diana knows that, and she doesn’t even live here!” the other answered, finally deciding to turn around to look at her. Diana Farley was Tristan’s best friend, a subject quite prickly, at the beginning of their relationship, but that over time had become a safe haven for both of them when they needed to detach. She lived in another city, about an hour away, and she and Tristan had met at school, before he decided to retire and return to live with his parents. Sometimes she came in town to visit them, but Mare had never had the chance to hang out with her, unlike Shade and Kilorn. Working in the evening certainly had its advantages, but unfortunately it also led you to accept a life of compromise, including abandoning your social life.

“So you’re telling me I should go and act like I’ve always known?” Mare asked, grabbing her jacket with irritation. She didn’t know what had bothered her, but something had, turning her into the grumpy self that her siblings hated.

“I’m saying you should go and behave normally, enjoy the evening and remember …”

“… it’s not a date.” they concluded in chorus.

The bell rang again, urging her to move.

“Keep me updated!” exclaimed Ann, who had already returned to look at the brightly colored screen.

“I will do my best!” the other exclaimed, just before closing the door behind her. Waiting for her now, there was Cal himself, wearing a sweatshirt and a heavy jacket too.

“So where are we going?” Mare asked, trying to start with the best good intentions for the evening.

“At McDonald’s,” Cal replied, leaving her deeply perplexed. He probably noticed it, because before opening the side door, he explained that once a week they took the residents of the clinic to eat out, a way to reintegrate them in society and not make them feel different from the rest of the world.

“And why there?” she asked, before getting in.

“Because this time it was up to Luther to decide.” Cal replied, throwing a knowing look at the child who had gone to ring at her the door. The child replied with a wide smile of satisfaction, while who she supposed was his father seemed even sadder; that young life would be broken before reaching adolescence, yet Cal had the expression of who would do anything to make him happy. While she was fastening her belt, Mare felt a grip on her chest, right at the heart.

“Are y’all ready?” Cal asked, having reached the driver’s seat, with a fake southern accent. The occupants of the bus answered positively in a choked choir of voices of every age and gender, and Mare couldn’t help but join them.


	4. An Unexpected Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mare faces mixed feelings after the evening with Cal

Mare spent most of Sunday morning in bed, crushed by the weight of a feeling that she couldn’t decipher. The evening, in its simplicity and with its sweet-bitter note, had been perfect, and like everything too beautiful, Mare had to ruin it. Maybe it was the guilt, maybe the morality she’d stifled too long, but when Cal on the way back had proposed to see each other the next day, she told him she had a boyfriend, and then a river of other useless words had begun to come out of her mouth, until he had stopped her, asking if her boyfriend had problems with the possibility that she could make new friends. That word had hit her like a slap. Friends. Though she repeated over and over again that this was all she wanted from Cal, her pride was still hurt. For a moment, she thought she could be enough for him. For a moment, she thought she was worth the attention of both the Calore brothers. For a moment, she really believed she could aspire to something better. So she had mumbled something that should’ve been a no, as if a simple no had some kind of sense, and had practically escaped from the bus, without even looking back to greet the other passengers. She had been heartless, a selfish and mean person, yet not feeling enough had hit her harder than she thought.

Around noon, Ann tried to knock again. The first attempt was about half past ten, and it was the sound that had interrupted Mare’s light and agitated sleep, but she had put her head under the pillow and ignored her friend’s polite approach: she was exhausted and needed to gather strength to face the speech they would inevitably face once her friend had seen her expression. Mare had once been convinced she was a good liar, but since she lived with Ann she felt like an open book: the girl could decipher her emotions even before Mare herself succeeded.

For a moment, Mare was tempted to wait again for Ann to get tired of knocking at what could easily be an empty room, but it was late, and if she wanted to go to the Hall’s Sunday meeting in decent conditions, sooner or later she would’ve to set foot outside her room, at least to take a shower. She wasn’t obliged to attend, since she had a free weekend, but she also knew that staying alone at home wouldn’t do her any good, so that was the goal she set for the day: being a functional adult up to the meeting’s end and then go home and even burst into tears in front of one of those tremendous romantic films that Gisa liked, if necessary.

Ann sat down on the edge of the bed, on her face the same expression as someone who’s watching a wounded animal.

“So?” she asked.

After a first, feeble reticence, Mare gave in, and told her everything, even answering her questions.

“It could still come out a mess.” she declared when silence fell into the room.

“Don’t be silly, I don’t think he’s serious with this story of being friends.”

“What if he is?”

Mare hadn’t really thought about it and her mind was quickly filled with unanswered questions and variables she couldn’t control in such a massive amount that they caused her a headache.

“In that case, we’ll find out in due course.” Mare replied, closing the subject.

The Hall’s entrance was deserted, but from the speakers came some music, a classic rock piece, which meant that Dane, the activity’s owner, had already arrived. Ann could hardly notice it, and went through the door that Mare kept open to her without even looking up from her purse, in which she was desperately looking for her keys. It was the second time in a month that she was losing them and Mare was starting to be afraid of having to change the locks, a cost that neither of them could afford.

They sat at the east desk, where they usually worked, and Ann turned the bag’s contents over onto the dark marble slab. It was evident from the absence of various tinkles that the keys weren’t there, but Ann still continued to search, putting one item at a time in the bag, and discarding what quickly became a pile of rubbish.

“I’ll end up gluing those damn keys to your hand.” Mare mumbled, glaring at her.

“Don’t worry, she’ll find them. She always does.” Dane consoled her, placing a glass in front of her, filled far more than necessary with a particularly dark whiskey.

"Do we celebrate something?” Mare asked, alluding him to offer. The liquor evidently came from his personal reserve and it was very unusual that he affected it for his employees.

“Let’s say that given the circumstances I think you need it.” he answered with an indecipherable expression, which could very well have been compassion but also a severe judgment against what she had let happen.

“So you know, too.” Mare noted.

“I know everything that happens in this place.” he replied, but it was clear that he knew the details of what happened even outside.

“Carmadon told you?” Mare asked, even though the answer was obvious. That man had eyes and ears everywhere, he should have been a journalist, not a barman.

“And who else, if not him?” Ann broke in. “Anyway, he was really kind.”

“And Maven knows?” Dane asked.

Mare shook her head but she didn’t have time to answer because a too familiar voice, a voice that she had long heard only filtered by the telephone and the distance, made her turn abruptly.

“What should I know?”


	5. Work Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a normal shift at the Hall of the Sun

Despite Mare had felt disgusting, lying to Maven after he had told her that he would stop just for a couple of minutes to say goodbye and that he was in town only for his mother’s sake it had been simple; it was more difficult to manage the Hall’s customers at Friday’s rush hour when Ann wasn’t on duty and Diana had just arrived in town. Evidently there was a reason if Tristan had considered a bad idea to take her to the Hall until that moment: the girl was really neautiful, with something, even if Mare suspected it was the considerable security in her eyes, that seemed say _I know something you don’t_, the same scowl that was her best friend’s trademark, able to attract anyone’s attention within thirty feet. Three guys had already hit on her and the situation didn’t seem to improve, although she had refused all of them, now that she was on the dancefloor with her friend. Shade seemed strangely irritated, and Mare wondered what the reason was, especially since he had never told her about any possible interest in the girl.

“It’s going to be like this all night,” she heard Tristan warn him as she passed by them to go out and smoke a cigarette. She should’ve quit, and over and over she had promised herself to do it, but at times like this she just couldn’t: it was relaxing and gave her the necessary calm to start over.

“A girl who smokes isn’t pretty,” a familiar voice that made her wince told her. Although he was partly in the shade it was evident that the figure leaning against the wall belonged to Cal.

“I’m not interested in being pretty” she replied, taking a deliberately long hit from her cigarette.

“From the result I wouldn’t say so”

She peered at him sideways, doing everything she could to avoid feeling flattered, but still felt a warmth in her chest that gradually spread to her fingers and toes. That boy had an incredible effect on her, as if everything she was, and above all wasn’t, was desirable. She didn’t have to make an effort to do anything: he stubbornly appreciated what he knew of her, making her want to reveal him more and more.

“I’m going back to work.” she announced once her cigarette was over and he followed her, but she didn’t have time to think about that interaction or what was or wasn’t happening between them any longer because she saw her brother trudging towards a stool with a pathetic look on his face. She poured him a double whiskey and he threw it down in one gulp, pounding the glass on the counter.

“There are only two things so serious and I know they are all well at home. Is it Diana?”

He nodded. "What the fuck Mare, it had never happened to me before!”

Mare and Rasha exchanged a glance. “It’s not the end of the world, you like her, so what?”

“I don’t like girls like that, and you know it, while I always have this one in my head. Tell me what to do, you know the women, you’re one of them, or almost.”

"All right, first of all,” she stated, leaning towards him to be heard “suck my dick.”

“You see! Girls don’t say that kind of thing!” he exclaimed.

“Cool ones does.” Rasha intervened.

"Second” continued Mare “you’re Shade Barrow, you can have all the girls you want.”

“Almost” Rasha corrected her from the sink.

Shade wrinkled his nose. “Tristan had his eyes on you, I would’ve never done it.”

The girls exchanged an astonished look: Tristan had spotted Rasha before he started dating Ann and now she was trying in every way to steal his girlfriend, how the turn table...

“Here’s the plan.” Mare continued when she had recovered from the news. “Step one, stop making a fuss. Step two, remember who you are and use your charm, she can’t be so different from the others” she lied, because it was obvious that there was something in her that all the other girls in town hadn’t been able to stir up in him. "Step three, patience. You can’t expect to treat her like any other if she’s different for you, so take things slow and you’ll see that the change of attitude will bear fruits. If you end up getting married, you owe me a hundred dollars.”

To hear of the marriage, he let out a curse. Shade had never been the kind of person who endures bonds and the strongest he could’ve was with his family and especially with her as she was the one closest to his age.

“Shame on you for wishing me such a thing!” he exclaimed, before getting up and disappearing into the crowd, replaced by a large group of people who seemed to never end. She was glad she didn’t have time to worry about either the absence of calls or messages from Maven or the four blonde, tanned girls with a double D cup on display thanks to the tight-fitting T-shirts in various shades of pink, which made them look like a fetishist version of Barbie, buzzing around Cal until he materialized at the bar.

“Whiskey?” she asked.

He nodded, took a long sip and started looking around.

“I saw your brother yell at a girl, in the parking.”

Mare was stunned. Had he screamed at her and demanded that she somehow should be interested?

“But then she started screaming at him,” he continued, without even needing to urge him. “I don’t know who she is, but for some reason I like her.”

“Me too.” agreed her, looking at the ice floating in his glass. “Even if it’s strange to see Shade trying to settle down.”

“Do you think this is really his intention? Did he told you something about her? ”he asked, and she nodded. She didn’t think they knew each other so well, but thinking about it, having the same age, they must have been classmates at school since they were children and you didn’t have to be a close friends of Shade to know that he had broken half the hearts of the girls in town, but it was evident that this wasn’t what he actually wanted to talk about, although he didn’t seem to want to tell her the real reason. She shouldn’t have been hurt just because he didn’t want to talk or maybe he wasn’t at ease enough to share his thoughts with her, yet when he got up and crossed the room to go to the pool table she was overcome with a strange feeling.

"What’s wrong?” Rasha inquired.

“I don’t know” Mare admitted “but I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to have noticed.”

“And what do _you_ have? You make a face when he left… Did he said something mean to you?”

Mare shook her head. “It’s hard to explain but I just had a strange, sad feeling, as if we were no longer friends.”


	6. Barrows in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The troubles to be a Barrow in love

Cal came in with a smile so broad on his face that Mare couldn’t help but reciprocate. It was the first Friday of October and this meant that at the moment, somewhere near the university, the Feats, clandestine fighting meetings in full Fight Club style to which all those who were aged between seventeen and twenty-three years participated, including him, or so it was until that day, were taking place.

“I didn’t expect to see you before midnight,” she said in greeting as the boy sat in front of her station.

“Unlike some guys in California I have clear my priorities,” he replied, and though Mare replied with a grimace she felt a pang in her stomach. She hadn’t heard of Maven in twelve days and it could be considered a record in their relationship based only on sporadic messages and rapid calls; she had even thought that maybe she should’ve been the first to call but Ann had advised her not to chase him too much since it was him who had canceled their weekend and not even found a couple hours to spend with her when his mother sent him in town. Obviously she was right but this didn’t erase the burning sense of guilt he felt in being there to flirt with his half-brother.

“Where is Ann?” Dave asked, interrupting her distressing flow of thoughts.

“I saw her outside with the other bartender,” Cal replied, unleashing a man’s mutter, which disappeared in the back again. Since she and Tristan had break up five days earlier because of Diana, although Mare hadn’t wanted to go into the subject particularly, since her brother also seemed interested in the girl, the two colleagues had become inexplicably inseparable and where one was you can find also the other one, something that the owner of the business didn’t like particularly and not even her, although she had rooted for Rasha from the beginning; if they had both decided to take a break in the middle of a busy evening being behind the counter would’ve been unbearable even for a skilled bartender like her.

“Mare!” a voice called from the other side of the desk, making her swear under her breath. Out of habit she tried not to be noticed or make herself seem busy, so that her brothers went to order from Ann or Rasha, but that evening, with the empty room and the two girls out, she had no chance.

“Two Sam Adams?” she asked to Shade and Kilorn, though she already knew what the answer would be. She offered the first round, but they also took a second and in the meantime Shade also ordered a whiskey.

“Is it all right?” asked Cal once she was back at her station, probably suspicious of her reaction, but Mare didn’t want to open that subject so she nodded and was grateful to Ann for interrupting them to warn her that she had received a message from Lena , a nursing graduate student who replaced them from time to time when she couldn’t pay for food, rent, bills and tuition fees with the scholarship alone, who said the match was over and a lot of people said they were headed to the Hall. At the news, Cal tapped his hand on the counter a couple of times, finished his drink in one gulp and announced that he would leave or otherwise he risked killing some of those assholes, as he called them.

“Mister responsibility in person.” Mare teased him, but in reality she felt a pang of displeasure at the idea of not seeing him for the whole evening.

“Send me a message when you’re done,” he told her when he was already up. “Tomorrow I would like to go out.”

“Again?!” Rasha exclaimed, with justified amazement, seeing as Cal Calore was renowned for never going out twice with the same girl, but Mare silenced her, red with embarrassment, committing herself to concentrate on the first spectators of the Feats, who entered as soon as Cal went out. Within an hour there was place only standing and although the men were all drunk and thought themselves invincible as anyone who had won that night, Shade and Kilorn still hadn’t moved from their stools and even though they were a little out of hand they had succeeded to drink almost half a bottle of Jim Beam. When the situation seemed to calm down, another large group, probably the last spectators of the meeting, entered with a particularly happy air. Among them stood Tristan, who in spite of his split lip laughed and joked casually with his new friends, and Diana, who immediately attracted Shade’s attention, making him seem even more disheartened than before.

“So, spit it out.” Mare said, making them jump as she had stealthily approached.

“Tell you what?” Shade asked, trying to compose himself.

“About Tristan and Diana. First he and Ann break up, now you come here to get drunk with a whipped dog’s expression. Things cannot fail to be connected.”

“It doesn’t matter.” he tried to minimize, but Mare knew him too well and besides Kilorn couldn’t wait to spit it out.

“She hates him.”

“And why do you think so?” she asked.

“She thinks he’s an asshole, I heard her say it before the match.”

“And you, as the good friend you are, immediately went to report it to him, didn’t you?” she asked, with a tone of reproach that Kilorn didn’t seem to understand. She really loved her best friend but sometimes he was a little too outspoken and a little too rude, which could hurt others, and although Shade tried not to show it to him, his was a tender heart.

“Did she really say that?” asked Ann, who must have eavesdropped on the whole conversation and was probably waiting for an excuse to get her hands on the beautiful blonde.

“Essentially,” replied Shade with a sigh so mortified that immediately appeased his friend’s wrath.

“Well, you are.” Mare replied as she watched him throw down yet another shot. Given his past behavior, wasn’t it true? But maybe he could’ve been a better man for her.

“You’re right, but I can change! Although probably not enough to deserve her… ” he said, and she didn’t need to look into his eyes to understand that he had gone too far.

“You should take him home,” Mare suggested to Kilorn; there would’ve been no liquor in the world that could make him forget what she had said, something Mare had understood in the first months of distance from Maven, when the first misunderstandings had arisen and she had begun to understand that his mother doesn’t considered her worthy of her son, regardless of how much she was in love with him. For a moment not being able to think logically helped, but it was a brief and ephemeral relief, with serious consequences to face the next morning.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Kilorn replied, frowning. He wasn’t good at keeping secrets, especially with her, but it was clear that this time he was trying more hard than usual.

“Why?” Mare asked, puzzled. It was nothing new that one of her brothers came home drunk and their parents were used to it, especially since the only one who had already left was her.

“Because your parents have offered to host her for a month.”


	7. Suspicions, Jealousies and Cheatings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mare tries to fix the love life of those around her until she realizes that she has irreparably messed up her own.

“I can’t believe you let yourself be persuaded to host her.” Mare said to her parents, shaking her head. As soon as Kilorn, who was their neighbor, had warned her that she and Tristan had gone out and that Shade wasn’t at home, she had rushed to try to figure out what had passed in her parents’ head. Her mother stretched out on the sofa, covering her eyes with one arm, and pretended to faint with one of her usual blatant gestures, one of the few things that could make dad smile.

“We told her she could stay for the whole month, but she insisted a lot to shorten the time, in case she could find another accommodation.” her father explained.

“Another accommodation? How long did she plans to stop?” asked Mare, perplexed, in hope her parents wouldn’t understand how much wary she was of her, though she knew well that if her randomness could dupe her mother, his father was different and he would’ve understood in a moment, so she could only hope that he wanted to keep another secret from his wife, at least until he had fully caught what was happening.

“Until she has to come back for the exams, she didn’t specify a date.” her mother replied, sitting upright. Mare could hardly believe it and prayed that she shouldn’t be the one who would break the news to Ann, who probably, after breaking up with Tristan, was no longer on good terms with his best friend. Although she couldn’t explain why, Mare didn’t like the girl’s attitude: first she made sure Ann trusted her, then she made Shade fall in love and now she threw everything away to stay with Tristan, which she could’ve had from the beginning, despite what he kept repeating to Ann. It didn’t really made sense. She also thought about it on the way to the Hall, where she had a very full evening, until a boy a little older than her, with big eyes, carefully combed hair and perfect features monopolized her side of the bar. His name was Tyton Jesper and he seemed to come from a Banana Republic’s catalog with his mint green button-down Oxford shirt, a pair of light jeans and moccasins. He was different from the usual Hall customers, so, when she could, Mare chatted a little: she discovered his parents had a fancy restaurant downtown and that he attended a country club.

“Maybe one day we could eat something together.” he proposed, but Mare didn’t have time to reply that Cal suggested him not too kindly to get out of the way.

“Why did you do that?” asked Mare.

“What?”

“Why you staged that scene?”

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, agitated. “He was about to ask you out!“

“And so?” she asked, more and more angry. She didn’t care what kind of man he was and she knew perfectly well how to refuse an invitation on her own without needing his help. Also, it was her job as a bartender to flirt with customers, if necessary, and he seemed to be rich and willing to pay.

"I didn’t want you to be asked out! He’s a predator, everyone in town knows, and you would know too if you paid a minimum attention to the place where you live instead of barricading yourself at home whenever you can.” he snapped, and Mare remained for a moment to meditate on his words. He wasn’t the first person who told her such a thing and the last one had been Ann just a couple of weeks, at most a month, before. Was she really out of the world? Of course, she had strayed a little from her brothers and Kilorn, but she saw Ann more or less all day, whether at home or at work, and from time to time she went to lunch at her parents’. It was a normal life, the one she led, and she couldn’t understand why everyone was accusing her of having shut herself up.

“If only you could understand how worried I am about your safety, to know you are here, you would give this damn job up instantly.” he finished, once he had calmed down a little. He looked distraught, as if he wanted to tell her something that had been crowding his head for a long time but couldn’t.

“To do what? Spend even more time at home? Go out with you and lead a life that I can’t afford? Behaving yourself so you’re just complicating things.” she replied, warning Ann with a gesture that she would take a break, then slipping out of the counter and walking toward the back, followed by Cal, who evidently had something more to say. She lit a cigarette and had time to take a long shot before Cal decided to resume.

“But things are very complicated.”

She shook her head, exhaling smoke. “You’re wrong, they’re clear and simple.”

Cal then grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her on the mouth. Mare pursed her lips in shock but a moment later she melted into contact with his, relaxing though her breathing was accelerated and her heartbeat was so strong that it exceeded the of the echo of the bass coming from within the Hall. She felt his tongue slip into her mouth and her hands run down her arms to her pelvis, fingers digging into her bare skin. He pressed his hips against hers and when he pulled away, sucking her lower lip.

“Now they are complicated.” he said, before leaving her alone and trembling, leaning against the wall. No one had ever kissed her like this, and something told her that that wasn’t even the best Cal Calore could do; his tongue would send her in ecstasy even if she had expected that kiss and he had squeezed her as if he couldn’t help but lure her to himself, but always in an expert and controlled way. He couldn’t even imagine how he could be in a more intimate situation, but at the mere thought she felt her pulse accelerate and her thigh muscles twitched, until a thought crossed her mind as quickly as lightning and froze the blood in her veins. She had just cheated on Maven.


End file.
